SUNY Plattsburgh seeing strong numbers in first-year class

PLATTSBURGH Move-in days were held last weekend at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, and the freshmen, now making their home on campus, are academically strong and rich in ethnic diversity. In terms of academics, this class compares favorably to those in previous years, said Richard Higgins, director of admissions at the college. This is, in part, because SUNY Plattsburgh has once again exceeded its enrollment goals. For the second year in a row, the college had so many applicants that it had to turn away more than half. This years acceptance rate was 49.3 percent. When it comes to diversity, 16.2 percent of the incoming freshmen come from minority backgrounds. That number has been steadily climbing. In 2006, it was 15.3 percent; in 2007, it was 15.5 percent. The colleges reach is wide-spread across the state of New York. This years freshmen hail from 53 out of the 62 counties in the state, with many students coming from Suffolk and Nassau counties on Long Island, as well as Clinton, Albany and Saratoga counties. The number of out-of-state freshmen has also risen slightly, to nearly 11 percent. Six percent come from other states, most notably Vermont, Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and more than four percent come from other countries, including Japan, China, Canada, Sri Lanka and the Republic of Korea. Dominick Tedesco is one of those out-of-state students. He came to the college from Danbury, Conn. He said that he chose the SUNY Plattsburgh because of the feeling he got when he came to visit I had the feeling that I belonged here, said Tedesco Mary Tedesco, Dominicks mother, added that they found the people at the college to be very friendly. Everyone says hello, she said. Beyond the atmosphere on campus, freshmen cite a wide variety of reasons for coming. Brandon Smith, from Syracuse, said that he came because he wanted to play lacrosse and because the school is strong when it comes to his major television production. Yaneek Golding came from the Bronx. She chose the college because it was far away from her home. Lauren Coryea, originally from Altona, said she left her home near Rochester, to come to SUNY Plattsburgh because she wanted to study art, and she valued the art emphasis on campus, exemplified by the Museum Without Walls. It was my first choice for a school, said Coryea. I didnt apply anywhere else.